"The studio built in a break in production that was scheduled to last from late December through mid-February, during which the remainder of the screenplay was supposed to be completed," notes the report. "Now the hiatus has been extended until March 28, and a new writer, David Koepp, who did uncredited work on the first MIB, has been brought on board to work out complex script issues involving time travel."
This delay is costing the production millions, but apparently things will balance out in the end because of New York state tax breaks that would have been lost if MIB III did not start shooting by late 2010. Other executives have commented that no tax break in the world is worth what Sony is doing with this film.
Says The Hollywood Reporter, "MIB III, scheduled to open in 3D in May 2012, has a budget that will easily pass $200 million. In the story, Will Smith's character returns to 1969 and encounters famous figures of the day, like Yoko Ono, as well as a younger version of Tommy Lee Jones' Agent K (played by Josh Brolin)."
Although Sony sticks with the tax break scenario, the story in THR states that others believe production was rushed out of fear the studio would lose Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones and director Barry Sonnenfeld. Continues the story, "Smith and the others agreed to reunite based on a script from Tropic Thunder writer Etan Cohen. But though that version found favor with the studio, Sonnenfeld and producer Walter Parkes, Smith wanted changes. 'He's become very enamored with aspects of screenwriting,' says a source involved with the production. The source believes Smith has earned the right to weigh in on the script, but he says the actor's process 'takes a long time.'"
Production was delayed from the originally scheduled October to November due to the script, and when filming commenced, Catch Me If You Can writer Jeff Nathanson was hired to work on it. By mid-february, when the hiatus came to an end, supposedly the script problems were not solved. The Hollywood Reporter story also quotes a former studio chief as saying, "If he [Smith] wasn't satisfied after it's been years in development, how are you going to fix that at Christmas?"
Things have reportedly not gotten better, and to read much more -- including a recurring conflict between Sonnenfeld and producer Walter Parkes -- follow the link to read the rest of this intriguing story.
For fans of the franchise, all of this does NOT bode well, and tax break or not, one does have to wonder what the upside of going into production with only one third of a screenplay completed truly is.